New Jersey Man Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Stealing COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits; Others Previously Sentenced (March 7, 2025)
Summary
Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, dated March 7, 2025. U.S. Attorney John Giordano announced that Jose Tavares of Englewood, New Jersey, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch to 40 months in prison for a conspiracy to illegally obtain over $570,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits. Tavares was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after a five-day jury trial, and was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $570,077 in restitution. The release says that from July 2020 through February 2021 Tavares and conspirators submitted fraudulent applications to the New York Department of Labor using other individuals' information. Conspirators Yanira Abreu and Christopher Valerio were sentenced previously.
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“New Jersey Man Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Stealing COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits; Others Previously Sentenced (March 7, 2025).”
Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-03-13-new-jersey-man-sentenced-to-40-months-in-prison-for-stealin-cf1b41889a/
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PRESS RELEASE
New Jersey Man Sentenced To 40 Months
In Prison For Stealing COVID-19
Unemployment Benefits; Others
Previously Sentenced
Friday, March 7, 2025
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey
TRENTON, N.J. – A New Jersey man was sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in
a conspiracy to illegally obtain over $570,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits, U.S.
Attorney John Giordano announced.
Jose Tavares, 37, of Englewood, New Jersey, was convicted on Oct. 28, 2024, on one
count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after a five-day jury trial before U.S. District
Judge Robert Kirsch. Judge Kirsch imposed the sentence in Trenton federal court.
Tavares’ conspirators, Yanira Abreu, 43, of Keasbey, New Jersey, and Christopher Valerio,
34, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, were each sentenced previously by Judge Kirsch in the
same scheme.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From July 2020 through February 2021, Tavares, Valerio, Abreu and others submitted
fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance benefits to the New York
Department of Labor (NYDOL) through fictitious online profiles that they created using
personally identifiable information, including names, dates of birth, and Social Security
numbers of other individuals without their consent. Once the NYDOL processed and
approved the fraudulent applications, Tavares and his conspirators obtained debit cards
with the illegally obtained funds totaling over $570,000, which they used for personal
gain, including vacations, luxury retail purchases, and cosmetic surgery.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Kirsch sentenced Tavares to 3 years of supervised
release and ordered Tavares to pay in $570,077 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Giordano credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in
Charge Ricky J. Patel in Newark; Special Agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office
of Inspector General, Northeast Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge
Jonathan Mellone, and postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the
direction of Postal Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division, with
the investigation that led to the sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Stark and Benjamin
D. Bleiberg of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike
forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to
investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-
state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational
actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led
and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole
pandemic relief funds.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can
report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud
Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form
at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
###
Defense Counsel for Tavares: Jeffrey Simms, Esq. and Roberto Espinosa, Esq., of New
Jersey.
Defense counsel for Valerio: Kevin Roe, Esq., of New Jersey.
Defense counsel for Abreu: John Russo, Esq., of New York.
tavares.indictment.pdf
Updated March 7, 2025
Topic
FINANCIAL FRAUD
Component
USAO - New Jersey
Press Release Number: 25-065
File and source
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- SHA-256
- c47687e2de3c7428405223cbae9c6fad86d891ef5c3f93bc8adde48ebfa49fd4
- Original
- www.oig.dol.gov